A Leyburn man who spent 100 days in intensive care and survived against the odds has raised money for the hospitals which cared for him.
Darren Percival raised £12,500 for the intensive care teams at the James Cook University Hospital and the Friarage Hospital by holding a grand prize draw.
Dr Michelle Carey, consultant in intensive care medicine said: “Darren was admitted with pneumonia following influenza last winter and he was very, very poorly for a significant period of time.
“But he has done really well and has, against all the odds, survived and recovered to almost make a complete recovery.
“This donation means a huge amount to us all.”
Darren said: “The staff have all been fantastic.
“And after spending a very long time in hospital we decided that simply saying thank you didn’t feel like it was enough, so we had to do something more.
“The response from our community was incredible.
“We had donations from farmers and business syndicates and altogether we had 90 prizes including cottage stays and weekend breaks.”
Darren’s wife Denise added: “We had no idea that he was so poorly when we brought him in. But he didn’t give up and the staff here never gave up on him.
“We raised the money through the grand prize raffle and one of our friends, Martyn Fawcett had a 60th birthday party and asked for donations for Darren instead of birthday gifts, so he gave us £3,500.
“We will be forever grateful to the physios, consultants and nurses – each and every one of them.”
